New Research

After successfully publishing the article, Gu You finally entered a leisurely state again.

Every morning, he attended the teacher's classes. In the afternoon, he cleaned the academy, and at night, he chatted and bragged with the other Work-Study Students in the dormitory. Gu You even presented his ideas for the other Work-Study Students' Martial Souls as jokes in the form of storytelling.

Xiao Wu followed Gu You around. Although his expressions and tone often angered her half to death, during the month she had spent with him, she discovered that Gu You was simply habitually sharp-tongued. He did not truly mean to target others. After spending enough time with him, she found him somewhat bearable.

"Oh? This is a fine sword indeed." Gu You, Xiao Wu, and Wang Sheng were cleaning the Forest beside the academy when Gu You picked up a straight branch from the ground.

Gu You swung the branch a few times, seized by the urge to play, and pointed it at Wang Sheng, who was sweeping. "I am Gu You, the Star Holy Sword User. I wield the Savior Divine Sword, the Sword of Promised Victory. State your names, youngsters."

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Wang Sheng stopped sweeping as well, grabbed his broom, and said, "My name is Wang Sheng, the Fierce Tiger Spear User. I have come to claim your title of number one under heaven."

The two started playing around like that, leaving Xiao Wu alone to sweep the ground.

"Heh, childish boys." Xiao Wu rolled her Byakugan.

Although such peaceful days were wonderful enough to intoxicate anyone, Gu You came to his senses after only a week.

The next day in class, Mo Hen told the students to cultivate on their own. Some returned to their dormitories to cultivate Soul Power, some trained their bodies, and others found places to battle with their Martial Souls.

Gu You once again called Tang San and Xiao Wu over to his side.

Gu You looked around to make sure no one was nearby before saying, "Xiao San, Xiao Wu, we've rested long enough. It's time to do something serious."

Xiao Wu gave Gu You a sidelong glance. "Weren't you the only one resting? I went to Spirit Hall to organize documents, Xiao San went to the Blacksmith Shop to forge, and you were the only one telling stories in the dormitory."

Gu You felt a little embarrassed, but he still stubbornly replied, "How is that the same? I use my brain, unlike you two, who use physical labor."

"You two, stop arguing. Xiao You, why did you call me over?" Tang San interrupted the argument that had happened before and was about to happen again.

When it came to serious matters, Gu You was indeed quite reliable. He said, "I believe the money problem should be solved after the article is published. Next comes the issue of our own strength."

"Everyone, hold out your right hands." Gu You extended his own right hand first. Hearing him, Tang San and Xiao Wu also held out theirs.

"Release your Soul Power into your palms." After saying that, Gu You demonstrated personally. A fluctuation emerged from his palm, followed by a burst of purple light.

Seeing that Gu You had already released his Soul Power, Tang San and Xiao Wu released theirs as well. Tang San's Soul Power was blue-green, threaded with a hint of metallic black, while Xiao Wu's was pinkish white.

"That's it. Remember that feeling," Gu You said. "The three of us are all at level twelve Soul Power now. Xiao San, Xiao Wu, in a moment, place your hands on the ground and release your Soul Power in the same way as before. Remember, use as much strength as possible."

Although Tang San and Xiao Wu still did not understand what Gu You meant, since he had said so, they would follow his instructions.

The three arrived at an open area and stood in a triangle, five meters apart.

"Three, two, one, release."

As Gu You counted down, three waves of Soul Power erupted at once. With a bang, dust spread throughout the clearing.

"Cough, cough. Xiao You, what did you have us do that for?" Tang San coughed twice, waved the dust away, and asked.

Gu You stared intently at the ground, completely failing to notice Tang San's question.

"Just as I thought." Gu You looked at the three pits and nodded. "Xiao San, Xiao Wu, I need to go to Spirit Hall first. Help me ask the teacher for leave. Xiao San, if there's nothing going on at the Blacksmith Shop, come find me with Xiao Wu this afternoon."

After saying that, Gu You did not wait for their response. He turned and ran toward the academy gates.

Tang San turned to Xiao Wu and said, "There haven't been any orders at the Blacksmith Shop lately. You go to Spirit Hall first. I'll ask for leave at the shop, then head over." Xiao Wu nodded, and the two went to find Teacher Mo Hen to request leave for Gu You.

Although Mo Hen had grown accustomed to Gu You asking for leave every few days, this was the first time he had seen him run off in the middle of class. Geniuses always had certain privileges, and Mo Hen readily approved Gu You's leave.

Gu You ran into Spirit Hall's basement, took out paper and a pen, and began writing and drawing. "I never expected Soul Power to have this characteristic too. Is it related to Martial Soul Awakening, or does it have something to do with Soul Rings?"

Gu You turned toward the Blackboard and wrote down the five terms "Mysterious Heaven Skill," "Soul Power," "Martial Soul," "Soul Ring," and "Soul Skill." After thinking for a moment, he crossed out "Mysterious Heaven Skill" and replaced it with "Soul Master," then linked the terms together with arrows.

Soul Master→Soul Power→Martial Soul→Soul Ring→Martial Soul→Soul Skill

"A little experiment."

No sooner said than done, Gu You circulated his Soul Power and released his Martial Soul. In an instant, violent air currents swept through the basement, blowing books and papers everywhere.

Gu You took a deep breath and suppressed both the roar rising in his throat and the urge to unleash violence in his heart.

Focusing all his attention on the Soul Power within his body, Gu You carefully sent it toward his Soul Ring.

The yellow Soul Ring lit up. In an instant, Gu You's desire for destruction, which had only just calmed down, resurfaced. His surging Soul Power was like a rushing river, desperate to unleash terrifying strength.

The last trace of clarity in Gu You's mind made him immediately cut off the flow of Soul Power. The urge for destruction faded, and Gu You dismissed his Martial Soul Possession state, gasping for breath.

Gu You had never imagined that his First Soul Skill would become like this when released purely on its own. When testing the power and effects of his Soul Skill, he had subconsciously treated rocks and metal blocks as targets. But releasing a Soul Skill without any target, like this time, was like launching a guided missile after removing its lock-on. Wherever it hit was where it hit.

Gu You was still shaken. Fortunately, for safety's sake, he had sent in only a small amount of Soul Power, and done so slowly. Otherwise, he might have had to destroy the entire basement before regaining his sanity.

Looking at the mess all over the floor, Gu You thought for a moment but left it alone. He added the word "forced" to the arrow from "Soul Ring" to "Martial Soul," as well as the arrow from "Martial Soul" to "Soul Skill."

Next, Gu You began experimenting with manifesting his Soul Ring without entering Martial Soul Possession. However hard he tried, he could not manifest the Soul Ring without fully entering Martial Soul Possession. Yet he did discover a way to manifest only part of his Martial Soul through partial possession.

"Well, that's an interesting discovery." Gu You looked at himself in the mirror. Apart from his eyes becoming golden vertical pupils and the scales beneath them, no one would have been able to tell that Gu You had already entered Martial Soul Possession.

P.S. I seem to have hit a bit of a bottleneck. Writing this chapter felt terrible. I started at noon and deleted and revised it several times, but none of it worked. Please bear with it. The transitions between plot points are just too awful. I still need to read more novels and learn from them.

I'm not in good shape. How about only one update today? This chapter was bad, I admit it. You can curse me here if you want. Also, please send recommendation votes, favorites, and monthly votes.